Coconut Custard Pie

Bikini season is all but upon us, and the last thing I need to be doing is eating thick slices of custard pie.

That said, I had a request last week for one of these creamy little babies, and I couldn’t resist.

(I guess a sliver won’t hurt, right?)

So, this ain’t your average wedge from the highway diner. Made with coconut milk (most coconut custard pies are made with regular milk), flaked coconut, coconut extract, and toasted coconut, this pie is super creamy and ridiculously coconut-y. It got rave reviews.

Coconut milk vs. cream of coconut

Be sure to grab coconut milk for this recipe, not cream of coconut. Coconut milk is straight up coconut goodness. It’s made by simmering fresh, shredded coconut and water together, then straining. It’s thick and usually separates in the can (just shake it up).

Cream of coconut has sugar and can also have other ingredients added to it (think pina colada mix). I like Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk, which you can find in the Asian section of a lot of major grocery stores—or order online from Amazon.com. If you like coconut, it’s good stuff to have in the house.

Sweetened flaked coconut vs. unsweetened flaked coconut

I used sweetened, flaked coconut in this pie, because it’s honestly the easiest to find.

If you want to use unsweetened flaked coconut, increase the sugar to a cup, or even a little more.

An old-fashioned refrigerator pie

This pie is really easy to make. Just grab a pre-baked pie shell (homemade or frozen), whip up the custard, fill the pie shell, and slide her into the fridge for about 6 hours to set up.

Top with fresh whipped cream and toasted coconut before serving.

Next up, homemade pie crust

If you want to bust out your own crust at home, stay tuned for a primer on basic homemade pie crust next week.

Heat the coconut milk

Put the coconut milk in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot. Set it on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring it just to a simmer.

Make the base for the custard

While you’re waiting for the coconut milk to heat up, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt together.

Toss in the cornstarch. (This, along with the egg yolks, are going to thicken your pie filling.)

Whisk until uniform. (This will take a minute, but the yolk mixture will absorb all the cornstarch.)

You’ll wind up with a thick, golden yellow mixture.

Temper the coconut milk into the yolk mixture

When the coconut milk just comes to a simmer, yank it off the stove. You’re going to temper the hot coconut milk into the yolk mixture. This raises the temperature of the egg yolks slowly and gently, which keeps it from turning into a pot of scrambled eggs.

Take a ladle of hot coconut milk. Drizzle it into the egg yolk mixture, whisking as you go to incorporate it.

Repeat until you’ve added most of the coconut milk, and your egg yolk mixture is hot and steamy.

Pour the hot egg yolk mixture back into the pot. Return it to the stove over medium-high heat, whisking constantly.

It will thicken considerably. Don’t walk away from the pot. Whisk it constantly.

The custard is done when it’s thick as warm pudding and reaches 165 – 170 degrees on a candy thermometer. (Eggs are cooked and safe to eat at 160 degrees.)

Strain the custard mixture

Remove the pot from the stove and strain the hot custard mixture into a large bowl. Don’t skip this step. It will catch any stray bits of cooked egg that may have managed to coagulate in the pot. You definitely don’t want those in your pie.

The mixture will be thick, so push it through the strainer with a rubber spatula.

Stir in the flaked coconut, vanilla extract, and coconut extract.

The mixture will be thick. (Like, stand-a-spoon-up-in-it thick.) Give it a taste. This is what your pie filling will taste like. Add a little more vanilla or coconut extract if you like.

Assemble and chill your pie

Pour the filling into your prepared pie shell (homemade or frozen). Smooth down the top.

Chill 4-6 hours to let the custard firm up. If you’re in a rush, you can *kind* of cheat by freezing it, but keep a good eye on it. Custard can get funky if you let it freeze solid and then thaw.

Garnish and serve

Put about a 1/2 cup of sweetened, flaked coconut in a dry, nonstick pan (no oil or butter). Saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and fragrant.

Again, don’t walk away from the pan. It can go from toasted to burned very quickly. When it’s done, remove from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.

Whip the whipping cream and sugar together until it just forms stiff peaks.

Heap the whipped cream on top of your chilled pie.

Sprinkle generously with toasted coconut flakes.

And…voila! One coconut custard pie, a zillion times better than the diner down on Route 1.

Serve and enjoy!

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Jessie Cross is a cookbook author and creator of The Hungry Mouse, a monster online food blog w/500+ recipes. When she's not shopping for cheese or baking pies, Jessie serves as an Associate Creative Director at PARTNERS+simons, a boutique ad agency in Boston. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and two small, fluffy wolves.

One of these days, we’ll get around to coding a special print button.
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Cheers!

Sometimes when I find recipes I like online, I take a picture of the recipe part with my smartphone. The good thing about that is I'll always have my phone with me when I'm at the grocery store!
Well done Mouse, another lovely post. I'm glad your website is un-stolen!

i love this pie :) just made one and it gets better tasting everyday but then it never makes it past day two lol only difference is i use a coconut to get the shredded flakes...yes its time consuming but i really love the taste and texture not to mention its fresher

Thanks for your answer. Normally that is what I would do but the line at the top of my screen that contains the file icon disappears on the Hungry Mouse web site so I am unable to do a print preview and then print.
I guess I am not fully computer savvy to get it done......but thanks for your help.

We had a lot of fresh eggs and a sudden desire for a Coconut Custard Pie, so I did a quick Google search and randomly came up with this. It is amazing. We had extra custard left over, so I just put it into a couple of ramekins and it cooled off quickly so we didn't have to wait for the pie to set to try it. Loved it!!

Allergy warning: Thai House coconut milk has peanut in it. My daughter reacted from it. Scared us pretty badly. We contacted Thai House and they told us the process peanuts in the plant. NO warning on the label. Test your food.

I made this and it turned out great. The custard was free from those annoying egg-y bits that sometimes show up. The only changes I made were leaving out the coconut extract, and leaving out the sugar in the whipped cream. The coconut milk really makes this pie.

I am disappointed that this is a coconut CREAM instead of a coconut CUSTARD pie, but I might try it anyway. Just curious though...am I really supposed to use 3 cups of WHIPPING cream, or 3 cups of WHIPPED cream?? Three cups of whipping cream seems like it would make way way way too much once it's whipped!